“Now that Silver Lake is behind Symantec there is a hope that they’ll make the right decisions moving forward for a company which has made a lot of bad decisions over the last decade,” FBR Capital Markets analyst Daniel Ives said.

Symantec has been facing headwinds as slowing sales of personal computers hurt demand for its security software, which comes bundled with computers.

As the demand for traditional antivirus software falls, the company has been making software that have multiple layers of security, especially for businesses looking to protect themselves against increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks.

Symantec said on Thursday the buyback and dividend payout would be funded through proceeds from the sale of its data storage unit Veritas, Silver Lake’s investment as well as additional debt and cash.

The company said it would halve its regular annual dividend to 30 cents per share from next quarter due to the special dividend and lower estimated domestic cash flow after the sale of Veritas.

Up to Thursday’s close of $19.18, the Mountain View, California-based company’s stock had lost 25% in the past 12 months.

Elliott Management and Symantec could not be reached immediately for comment outside regular business hours.